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Below is my third attempt at trying to add an unusual SB to my personal "collection", but I believe I've failed this time around.

I love the color (pale-blue) and the fact that it is a bit different than what I'm use to seeing. The stone (jade) is quite translucent, neck and stopper are threaded. It's a very nice bottle in my opinion, but I don't believe this is as old as the seller described (early-20th C.).

The forums thoughts, if any?

Regards,Jo

P.S. I do apologize about the poor images. It's quite hard to take good, clear pictures of this piece do to the glare and color. I'll try to get better images in the morning

Have you decided WHAT you want to collect? I don't mean whether or not snuff bottles.I mean between: A. 'real' snuff bottles, those made for use by snuff takers in China, during the classical snuff taking period (ca.1600-1930), including IPSBs from same period (Early & Middle, ca.1795-1930); or B. modern bottles, which look like snuff bottles, but which were never intended to hold snuff.

Incidentally, I consider Modern Period IPSBs (Inside/Interior Painted Snuff Bottle) to really be another medium of Chinese Painting/Calligraphy, like silk or rice paper, etc., since they were NOT meant to hold snuff. And I consider the 'S' in 'IPSB' to stand for 'small'...

If you are interested in 'A.', you need to study FIRST, and buy SECOND. You must educate yourselves (I think you mentioned that you collect with your husband?), to identify genuine old (pre-1930) snuff bottles, and try to study documented genuine examples (at museums and from recognised dealers.

There are serious dealers in LA, NYC, London, HK, etc., and you will be amazed at how eager they are to show bottles, WITHOUT doing HARDSELL (Anyone trying to give you a 'hard sell', is not to be trusted. And in NYC, those places full of fancy looking stuff with snuff bottles prominently displayed, and signs saying "AT GREAT DISCOUNTS", avoid like the plague!

And you must buy the literature, and look at the illustrations carefully, and try to train your 'eye'.

When you do start to buy seriously (and I DON'T mean seriously high prices, but seriously with knowledge), try to acquire examples with provenance before 1980 (the accepted date after which people really started faking, as opposed to making, snuff bottles.).

You have to spend something in order to get a collection: You can spend seriously but intelligently, by buying ONLY from serious dealers (buying hundreds of bottles on eBAY from other people who themselves are as ignorant as you yourselves presently are on the subject, is simply a recipe for throwing away your money; if you just want to do that, better to give it to charity). OR, you can spend your time, LEARNING. And then you can spend get more bang for your buck

OR, If you just like the look of a collection or the objects, but don't want to invest the time or money, just collect the stuff which appeals to you, and don't worry about it.